Viswanathan Anand: I would want Aamir Khan to play me onscreen

Viswanathan Anand, Indian’s first grandmaster, who received an honorary doctorate degree at IIT-Kanpur on Tuesday, says that chess needs to be promoted more in India. Viswanathan Anand, the first chess grandmaster from India is happy that now there are 43 other grandmasters from the country, as well. The Padma Vibhushan awardee, who was in Kanpur on Tuesday to receive the Degree of Doctor of Science (Honorary Causa) conferred upon him by IIT-Kanpur, gave some invaluable gyaan to the students present on the occasion.
“It’s time now for you young students to set new goals for yourself. There is no waiting for humans as they have to keep on setting newer goals for themselves and keep on making their best efforts to achieve them. This is how success in life can be achieved,” said the grandmaster to the budding engineers. Happy that chess is becoming more popular these days, Anand says there’s scope to promote the game more among youngsters.
Anand further adds, “Things have really changed for the good as far as chess is concerned. When I started playing chess, there were no good chess clubs in India, but now many cities have chess clubs that provide good infrastructure and guidance to amateur players. In 1988, I became the first grandmaster in India but now we have 43! This shows that chess as a sport has a bright future in India.”
Further praising the game, Anand says, “More and more youngsters should play chess. I’ve seen that kids who have taken up the game have performed well in their academics. I am at present training 17,000 students in chess in schools across the country. Like the IPL for cricket, there is an urgent need to start a league for chess also so that more and more chess players get fame and good remunerations.” He goes on to add, “Chess championships have changed over the years. Today most of the championships are being telecast live. They have commentary, and all these things are making chess championships more entertaining. It’s just that more corporates and the government need to pitch in to make these events lucrative for the players.”
With a lot of films being made on sports and sportsperson, we wonder if Anand has been approached by any filmmaker for a film on him. “Not yet. No filmmaker has approached me to make a biopic on me. In case a film is ever made on me, it would be an interesting one. I have met actor Aamir Khan and I was really impressed with his expertise in chess. That’s why I want that whenever any filmmaker plans to make a film on my life, then he should rope in Aamir Khan to play the role. I would want him to play me as he is one actor from the industry who knows the art of transforming himself for any particular role.”